Construction companies compete over $40m gym deal

Construction companies are bracing for an extremely profitable opportunity: the Public Works, Transports and Housing Ministry (MLPTL) has set out to build almost 400 gymnasiums across the country by the end of 2004, under a $40m programme.
The construction works will be funded by domestic and/or foreign credits, to be secured by MLPTL and pledged by the Romanian State.
The Romanian construction market was estimated at 3.3 billion dollars last year. The “gym” deal is very appealing, especially since the market is not exactly teeming with publicly funded projects.
“We may be interested in this project, since we are already involved in the construction of industrial halls. I believe this programme is a boost for the construction market,” says Florin Chirita, investment and development manager of Impact, the company specialised in building villas and housing ensembles.
The National Investment Company SA, which runs the programme, last week published on e-licitatie.ro (site of the public acquisitions electronic system) the announcement of intention to select the companies that will build 324 gyms next year. The National Investment Company has set additional participation conditions, which complete the criteria already included in the legislation on public acquisitions. The bids will be graded based on patrimonial solvability (which must exceed 30%), liquidity (over 100%) and financial capacity (at least 100,000 euros per contract). Other criteria include the turnover averaged in the past three years, experience in similar projects, technical equipment and the workforce necessary to meet the deadlines.
The construction works will debut next spring, according to MLPTL estimates, since the number of existing gyms is too small and they fail to secure the proper conditions for sports such as volleyball, basketball, handball and tennis.